Tip The Scale
by stAnd out - SHOUT OUT
Summary: There is to be a new hierarchy; one that does not include Aizen or his quest for power. The ranks, however, are most definitely not the same. As Ulquiorra begins to grow into new power that he was never able to explore while under Aizen's reign, the missing link to Aizen's downfall must battle against those who wish to destroy her and the threat that she poses to them. Ulquiorra/OC
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_Soul Reapers_

_Hollows_

_Arrancars_

The list of enemies and allies that a man can gain can be short, or endless, depending on the person or the situation. Sometimes, enemies can even become the strongest of allies, or an ally can turn their back on a comrade and become a fierce adversary. Situations can always change, and rarely ever is the change expected or known. Soul Reapers turning into Hallows; Hallows weakened by Soul Reapers; Arrancars fighting against one another. Life can be a never ending tangle of events, drama and confusion.

An adversary can come from a very unexpected place.

An accomplice may appear at any given time.

Darkness is considered the evil of the world; hate, deception, anger, all things that are _bad_ in the word are thought to originate from some type of darkness. Whether it be jealousy for someone, or anger at another being, darkness is always grown from those emotions; those thoughts and feelings are just the beginning.

However, with all things, living and inanimate, there must be a balance. For every dark thought, there is guilt that follows. For every bad deed, there will be consequences. Yin and Yang, light and dark, good and bad, white and black, love and hatred; our world is filled with all of these conflicting, but necessary things. Even if a being is completely happy, they cannot be joyful all the time, there must be a balance, not matter how much it may be fear or hated.

Unfortunately, there are those in the world that wish to destroy the balance. They want only one, or the other, not both at the same time. It is far easier to kill someone when there is no guilt that follows, it is so much simpler to destroy hopes, dreams, homes and families when there is no need to feel remorse or regret for doing such a thing.

The world needs balance. The world needs equality. The world needs fairness.

The scales must not be set astray.


	2. Flames of Candles

**Flames of Candles**

Looking up at the blue sky that held dustings of clouds here and there, the sky that she knew all too well was fake, she longed for nothing more than to see something else other than that dreary reminder of the happiness that she did not have. Forced to look at nothing but that blue sky and those white clouds day after day gave her a sense of hatred toward the colours and shades, wishing instead for red and black; _something_ had to change.

Lest she lose her mind over the many days of her infinite incarceration.

She blinked slowly, bored, against the artificial light in this artificial world. A loud sigh passed her lips as she pulled at the shackles that encased her ankles and wrists, wishing that they would break and free her. She knew that it would never happen, since it was the same wish that she made every day and it was yet to transpire.

Closing her eyes against the light, she began to contemplate on whether she should actually _try _breaking her bindings or just go to sleep and wait for the next day to come. She was probably going to be very out of shape by the time she was freed from her foolish imprisonment. She exhaled deeply, relaxing her body to sleep when an explosion suddenly rocked the ground she laid upon, causing her to jump, pulling on the chains that held her suddenly. She strained against the shackle around her throat to look in the direction that the sound had come from.

Smoke emanated from one of the large pillar like buildings that held the home of the Arrancar, a deep curiosity growing within her. What could possibly be going on to cause an explosion of that magnitude inside of the Accancar hide away. Had Grimmjow pissed off Ulquiorra again? Turning to look back up at the sky again, she gritted her teeth in irritation at the shackle around her neck bit into the skin of her throat.

"Comftable?" An accented voice asked from near her head, causing her to twitch in irritation. Rolling her eyes up, she saw the man that was standing near her head, looking highly amused. Although, she was fairly sure that he always looked amused. She had never actually seen him look angry or serious, or any other emotion for that matter. It was that stupid grin that was such a pain in the ass.

"Oh, it's lovely. These shackles are just the right size and the chains are wonderfully heavy," She drawled back, jingling the chains for added effect. "However, I highly doubt you have come here with my wellbeing in mind," she continued, looking back up to the sky as she spoke, "Gin."

"Hm, I've been found out," Gin teased as he stepped up onto the stone slab that she laid on, looking at the chains that held her down. They were a deep black onyx colour, contrasting with her pale pigments. Her vibrant red irises looked demonic against the stark white of her cheeks, and black hair. She grinned in feral sarcasm for a minute before her face fell into a mask of emotionless detachment.

Neither of them said anything for quite some time, merely sat in silence as they both looked off in different directions.

"Yer time's up," he said suddenly, even though she already knew the reason that he was there. The deal that Aizen had given her had expired and it was the end of her incarceration. She closed her eyes as she wondered what he was going to do to try and eliminate the threat that she was considered to be. She knew that he couldn't exactly kill her; he'd already tried that one.

"Do I not get to say my goodbyes?" she asked sarcastically, getting a sympathetic from the white haired man that made her want to break his face. She hated sympathy and pity from others. It was pointless.

Gin didn't say anything in reply but removed himself from the slab and walked out of her line of sight for a moment, the sound of something behind drawn from a sheath the only thing that could alert her to her impending death. She thought about briefly to her time in the Los Noches home of the Arrancar and couldn't bring herself to regret what she had done. If going against all that Aizen was has brought her death, than she would take it.

"Sorry about dis," Gin whispered softly, the sight of her own sword appearing before her eyes. So he had finally figured it out. "Ezekiel." Pointing the sword downward, one fast motion was all it took to drive her blade down through the hole below her breasts, tearing the material of her shirt that covered it. The pain never came, as she knew it wouldn't, but the world disappeared around her as fast as a candle flame being blown out.

She was left to disappear with it like smoke.

Ulquiorra paused in his stride as he felt a sudden jolt of numbness spread along his chest, the feeling of something that had once been there, connected to him, breaking away. Turning to face the tower that he knew Ezekiel to have been locked away inside, he caught sight of Gin walking back toward the main towers, seemingly nothing wrong.

She was no longer in their world.

Was he supposed to be sad? He wasn't sure whether or not he should be upset that she was gone. His head tilted to the side in a sense of curiosity when he felt a sort of anger enter his chest, swelling until it had reached a point of savage rage. He wanted to tear Aizen apart. For a woman?

Turning on his heel, he made his way toward his chambers, forgetting about doing his patrols of the halls. If the other Arrancar felt the need to kill one another he could care less. He didn't wish to run into anyone at the moment. However, the fates seemed to have a different plan because he had only reached the tower that housed his quarters when Grimmjow appeared at his side.

"So, they finally killed her, heh?" he sneered with a grin, getting a simple glimpse from the corner of Ulquiorra's eye and nothing else. He glared in irritation when he wasn't able to get a rouse from the other Arrancar. "Come on, not even going to show a hint of _emotion_ about that bit-"

The wall beside where Grimmjow had stood crumbled away as he was thrown through it, a simple swipe of Ulquiorra's arm the only thing that could be seen. The blue haired man growled as he rose up to his feet several yards away, his eyes meeting the silent rage within the cuatro Arrancar's. He paused at the sight of it, unsure of whether to continue or not. This open display was more than anything else they had seen.

"Shut. Up," Ulquiorra said clearly, before he continued on his way. Grimmjow wisely chose not to pursue him further.

The green eyed Arrancar had more control than most, pulling back into a reserved state that often unsettled those who he chose to fight. They disliked his calm state in fighting, his never changing neutral expression or the bored look that was always in his eyes. He could have cared less who he fought at the moment, he just wanted to remove the burning hatred and anger that had replaced the warmth that had once been Ezekiel's connection to him.

It was unsettling and he disliked it.

Ezekiel, she had been named by Aizen when she was created because of her lack of identity when she became an Arrancar. Ezekiel is the name of the archangel of death and transformation, a very suiting name. She was a very strong Arrancar and had quickly begun to oppose Aizen whenever he tried to order her to do something that she did not wish to. She hated him, and he returned the feelings very quickly. He had once been so proud of her as his creation, but he soon grew to hate—even fear—her. When he tried to kill her for a severe crime she had committed, she turned his attack around on him and wounded him greatly.

Ulquiorra had felt a rage similar to the one he was feeling now when he was forced to watch as she was chained and sucked dry of nearly all her reiatsu, weakening her enough to chain her within the tower and await the day that she either accepted Aizen's offer of obedience and life or opposition and death.

"_Ulquiorra," Aizen called when he saw the dark haired, pale skinned man as he was making his was passed the door to his throne room. A woman stood before the throne, her back to him and her eyes up toward Aizen. "I wish for you to show Ezekiel around. She is my newest daughter, treat her well." He didn't say anything more on the matter, waving them both off._

_The long black braid that the woman's hair was in nearly touched the floor, swinging around when she turned to face where he was standing in the doorway. He fought against looking surprised when she was fully facing him, showing her true identity._

_Her vibrant red eyes caught his snake green ones, standing out against her deathly pale flesh. The collar of her long coat encased her throat with the sleeves cutting off at the shoulders. The material of sleeves began against half way down her bicep and continued down to her wrists in a kimono sleeve style. Black lines accented the outfit, along the hems and two on her chest that crossed in different directions. She looked elegant but deadly. Her hands were tipped with long black nails that looked more like claws than a manicure._

_When she stepped in his direction a slit in the front of her dress became visible, showing the knee length black boots that she was wearing._

_He could sense that she was hiding much of her reiatsu, too much for her to be of a higher number than he was. She may very well having been stronger than Halibel. He turned on his heel and began from the room, her near silent footfalls reaching his ears to show that she was indeed following after him. He wondered why she was so special to Aizen. He had never had someone treated to a tour of the place before. It was every Arrancar for themselves._

She was definitely stronger than Halibel.

She was stronger than Aizen.

He knew that Aizen wasn't smart enough to kill her, he didn't know how. She had to still be alive, somewhere. The traits of her sword were unknown to most of the Arrancar, and Aizen himself. Ulquiorra wouldn't be surprised if she was able to pull a fast one over Aizen again.

_Ulquiorra stood in the doorway to Ezekiel's chambers, unable to move. His eyes couldn't leave the span of white flesh that was visible after she had removed the overcoat part of her outfit. It covered nearly all of her body, only her legs and parts of her arms uncovered around the garments. A pair of shorts and a tank top that barely covered her breasts was all that she wore beneath it, revealing to him to hole that ran through her body right below her ribcage, where the human diaphragm was located._

_At the base of her spine was a black tattoo, a flipped figure eight. Infinity._

"_You have no ranking number," he said at last, his eyes still tracing over the marking that had been branded over her skin._

_She looked over her shoulder at him, knocking the braid off her shoulder and causing it to cover her brand. Her red eyes looked him over before she turned to face him at a steady pace, stopping only when she was less than an arm's length from him. Without hesitance or permissions her hand rose up and took hold of the zipper at the top of his own overcoat, pulling it down until half of his defined torso was exposed. Her hand was warm as it brushed along his skin when she moved the material to the side to reveal the four that was tattooed onto his left pectoral._

"_Cuatro," she whispered. It had been the first thing she said since he had picked her up from Aizen's throne room. Her finger traced over the dark markings, the Arrancar's eyes never leaving her face as she felt along his skin. A faint smile came to her once emotionless face, drawing a small sense of wonder from the blackness inside of Ulquiorra. Before he had a chance to react she leaned forward and pressed a kiss against the tattoo on his chest, drawing away just as quickly and turning her back on him. His shirt was zipped up like nothing had happened._

_His eyes fell to the base of her spine again, the black symbol of infinity looking so frightening and inviting all at once. Her spine dipped inward instead of protruding through her skin and left a teasing line leading down from her neck to above her shorts, two dimples visible on either side of the long bone alignment. Her black braid swung back and forth tauntingly, challenging him to try and touch her, contrasting sharply with her pale skin._

_She sat down on the couch that was located opposite the bed in her chamber, crossing one leg over the other as she looked at him with her ruby eyes. He felt compelled to move to her, but repressed those feelings and turned his back toward her. He couldn't see the faint smile that rose to her lips as her door closed behind him and left her in the consuming darkness._

Ulquiorra wasn't sure how he arrived there, but he found himself standing in the doorway of what used to be Ezekiel's chambers, no trace of her left behind. He could not even smell the rain like scent that used to follow her around wherever she went. At one time the smell of her used to cling to this room like it was trapped within the very walls, but he could now only smell the stone of the walls and the clean sheets on the bed.

Stepping further into the room, his eyes roamed over the perfectly made sheets of the bed and the arranged pillows and cushions on the couch, wishing to tear them apart and throw them into disorder. He wished to look to the bed and see her lying beneath messed sheets with her long black hair thrown about and loose form its braid. He wished to see the symbol of infinity on her back again, enticing and threatening.

Turning sharply he threw his fist out in an uncontrolled fit of rage, slamming his closed hand into the wall and drilling a hole in the concrete. He pulled his dust covered fist from the hole after a moment, watching as cracks began to scatter around the damage and leave pieces to fall to the ground. He watched everything with a mask of emotionless detachment, but on the inside the demon was screaming and throwing itself against the chains that kept it held down. He wanted to end it; he wanted to tear something apart.

He wanted her back.


	3. Even In Death

**Even In Death**

Ezekiel opened her eyes to a blood red sky, a sharp contrast, the exact contrast, that she had been hoping for after staring at the fake blueness of the sky above her prison for so long. She blinked once, making sure that it was truly before her, before she began to smile. Of course everything had worked out; she knew that there was no way that Aizen was as smart as he tried to portray.

"Welcome back, child," a familiar voice whispered. The black haired woman rose up to a sitting position, the first time that she had done so in so long, the chains no longer binding her in place, and turned to look to where the voice had come from. A copy of herself crouched next to her, bright blue eyes and white hair standing in contrast with her red and black.

"I feel your dead heart aches behind your smile," she smiled sadly, her tanned hand moving out to caress the pale skin of her opposite. "You will see them all again soon, can you not feel them already? Grimmjow, he fights as we speak."

"Yes," Ezekiel sighed, leaning her cheek into the touch of her other half, a smile coming to her lips. "Nel has appeared once more as well, I can feel her. She has pushed her power down, however. It's hard to get a trace on her."

"Ulquiorra did not take your death well, he nearly took Grimmjow's head off, my sweet."

Ezekiel's smile faltered at the name mentioned and she looked back up to the red sky before raising to her feet, the black dressed woman standing beside her. "I miss him; he was always something to look forward to. I was kept from him for months and now I have no chance to speak with him until the time comes." She wrapped her arms around the other and leaned her head on her shoulder for support, seeking comfort.

"Worry not, dear one. He misses you as well."

"I have missed you also, Muriel," Ezekiel said with a smile, getting one in return. A ripple through the sky caused them both to look up as they watched the red begin to fade to black as they neared the other world, drawing them into a waking state in their body. Muriel smiled and embraced her darker half one last time before she felt her begin to fade away.

Once she was standing alone she moved along the grass that was beginning to glow beneath her feet, feeling the emotions that were rippling through Ezekiel as she began to awaken from the state that Gin had placed her in. It is a temporary death, enough to satisfy Aizen, where she is placed within her sword and the soul world that she shared with Muriel during the time that her body is transported to the real world. The human world.

Muriel smiled to herself as she closed her eyes and spun around in pleasant circles, feeling the relief of her other half and knowing that all had gone just as planned. All she needed to do was find a way to blend in with the humans, but that wasn't going to be hard with the vast amount of training and hard concentration she was able to achieve. She is quite talented with her mirages.

"Dear one, find the perfect place to stow away. You will need to find the soul reapers when the times is right-"

Muriel went quiet, feeling the dread that filled Ezekiel and herself as Grimmjow's body surged with pain. The substitute was going to end him too soon at this rate. Ezekiel didn't hesitate further and hurried on with her plans and Muriel sat upon the peaceful glowing grass and concentrated on Grimmjow. He was still fighting, even though he had been greatly injured by the human male. She smiled, feeling the emotions that raged through him toward the one that was actually winning against him.

"Grimmjow, you're arrogance knows no bounds," she whispered softly, opening her eyes and looked up to the black sky. It was littered with stars and a full moon now, back to the same appearance that it had been before Ezekiel had arrived. Some may say that she 'tainted' the world every time she entered it, bringing the colour of blood to the sky and blackness to the ground below, but there must always be a balance. There can be no light all the time, or only darkness.

"_You would enjoy this world, Muriel,"_ Ezekiel whispered to her through their mental bond. Muriel's interest was piqued and she couldn't help but to squirm her way into Ezekiel's conscious, since she was still holding her sword, and look through her eyes at the world. It was night-time and there were beautiful lights all around, but the thing that Ezekiel was looking at was a tall spinning circle, carrying people in glass sphere around it.

"Ah," she gasped in surprised awe, clapping her hands in delight. "Oh, you must let me explore this world someday soon, dear one!"

"_I will, dear one, I will_."

Ezekial used sonido to travel faster through the city, looking over the people that she appeared to be the same age as so that she could better target styles and behaviours to that she would have a chance to fit in. She stopped jumping around so erratically and pulled her reiatsu close to her form and pictured in her mind the form she wished to take. Remaining with the same facial features made it easiest but she changed her long black hair to medium length, straight, and changed her red eyes to a soft brown. She removed the more threatening features like fangs, claws and dark eye markings to make her appear friendlier to others.

She didn't feel like trying too hard with her outfit and chose a pair of tight jeans that she had seen a teenage girl wearing, black, and a red halter top with matching red high-top shoes that had 'all stars' on it. She paused in deciding whether or not to change her skin tone and thought it best to considering the fact that she was as pale as a corpse. She changed her skin colour to the same as Muriel's, a warm tan that make her look very much alive.

"Hm, not bad," she appraised herself, looking down at the red shoes that she had chosen. "Guess I should socialize, huh?" she asked herself before leaping down off the roof of the building she was on into the alley, looking around before walking out calmly and entering the mass amounts of humans along the streets.

A young girl was racing along quickly, looking impatient with getting somewhere and running straight into Ezekiel's side. She gasped and was thrown backward, the impact barely bothering the Arrancar but she teetered in order to keep appearances.

"Oh! I'm so sorry miss!" the girl said from the ground once she looked up at who she had collided with. Had she not been looking directly at her, she would have thought she had run directly into a brick wall. But the woman just smiled and held a hand out to her.

"No need, I'm not hurt. Are you alright? You took a nasty fall," the black haired woman said, her brown eyes warm and her smile pleasant.

"Ah! No, I'm alright!" the younger assured, taking the woman's hand for assistance. It was warm to the touch and she was jealous at the smoothness of her skin. "Thank you, though. I should be getting along, it's almost my curfew," the girl explained.

_Curfew? _"Well, don't let me hold you back. Be careful now."

"I will!"

Ezekiel watched the girl disappear into the crowd of people before she too was on the move again, smiling to those who smiled to her in a brief greeting and made her way along with no true destination. It felt strange, to be walking among a crowd that had no hostile intent toward her. Other than a select few, she had been hated and feared back at Hueco Mundo and that left her with very little people to run into without a confrontation of some sort.

_So strange, all of these people walk past me as though nothing in wrong, but I can end them all with a snap of my fingers. However, I do not wish to, which makes me no threat. They do not sense a threat because there is none. _Ezekiel stopped walking when she came to a turn, not sure which way to begin wondering next. She was running short on time and she needed to find a place to hide that she could secure easily.

Before Grimmjow was killed by Kurosaki Ichigo.

The problem was not finding a place to hide, but finding a place that there was a one hundred percent chance that no one would disturb her. It was a pain to have to search out the perfect warehouse, since there was no chance of any other place, but was soon standing on the second floor of an abandoned and boarded up building. Thankfully, no one was seeking refuge there and she was able to place a barrier around it that would give humans an uneasiness that would steer them away from the building.

She didn't need to wait much longer after finding the place, though.

Reverting back to her Arrancar form, but keeping herself hidden from the rest of the dead world, she held her hand out and waited for the familiar sensation before she closed her hand and pulled her back toward her body. The movement was joined with the sound of dancing metal as a soul chain appeared in her hand and the familiar body of none other than Grimmjow fell before her feet.

"Fuck!" he yelled, landing hard on his back. He bore no injuries from his fight with Kurosaki and he was no longer in his panther form, but he didn't exactly appear happy. When he opened his eyes and looked upward, he repressed the urge to cringe away at the red eyes staring back at him. "E-Ezekiel?" he stuttered out, shocked at the appearance. "Fuck, I'm dead, huh?"

"Well, yes, but no more than before," she answered before pulling on the chain that was wrapped around his neck once more and guiding him to his feet. He looked at her with wide blue eyes, unable to fathom what was going on.

"What's going on? Why am I in the human realm?"

"I intercepted your transition into death and pulled you here instead. One of my many…tricks. Understand why Aizen wanted so badly to kill me now?" she asked tauntingly before dropping the chain from her hand. It disappeared as soon as she released it, allowing Grimmjow to move about on his own. "I'm a creation of death, Grimmjow. He wanted to have to ultimate killing machine, an Arrancar that could hold life and death in the palm of his or her hand, but he got greedy."

"You can control life and death?" he sputtered, taking a step away from her.

"I'm going to remove Aizen once and for all, but I need help. I can't fight against Aizen with his pets always protecting him. I dare you, Grimmjow, tell me that you don't want him dead? You can be free from his irritating orders and superiority. _Lord_ Aizen won't have his throne much longer," she explained as she moved over to sit on the metal railing that lead to the stairs.

"Seriously? You stopped me from dying by the bastard soul reaper so that I could be your puppet?" Grimmjow growled out.

"No," she said back calmly, crossing her legs and leaning on her hands on the railing. "I stopped you from dying because Muriel could feel your hatred for Aizen and I knew that you would hate dying for him. Die some other way, I don't care."

He frowned in confusion as he crossed his arms over his chest, less alert now that she didn't appear to be any threat to him. "Muriel?"

"She is the soul within my zanpakuto," Ezekiel explained, reaching over her shoulder and disconnecting the chain the held the sword in place to hold it out before her in a non-threatening way. "She is my other, the light to my dark. She is very in tune with the emotions of others. She is me."

"Probably why you're the only person that can stand being around that bastard with an icicle rammed up his-"

He couldn't finish his sentence before Ezekiel had appeared before him, grabbing a hold of his jaw and pulling him face down to her height and forcing him to look directly into her enraged red eyes. "Do not misinterpret my saving you for kindness, Grimmjow. You can be very easily replaced and it would not be hard for me to let you continue your transition. Now, would you like to finish that sentence?"

The blue haired Arrancar shook his head 'no' as best he could with her grip on his jaw before she released him and moved to resume her place, pulling her zanpakuto from the ground and sitting back on the railing. He rubbed his jaw in irritation, glad that she hadn't decided to split his mask as a punishment and instead took a different approach.

"Muriel? Ezekiel? Strange names."

"They are the names of archangels," she answered, looking into his blue eyes. "I do not remember who I was before I became an Arrancar under Aizen, and so he took the liberty of naming me and the soul within my zanpakuto. No one else besides Aizen knew of her, because no one else has one. It's very rare—and when I say rare I mean it's never happened before. I was named after the archangel of death and transformation while she was named after the angel of emotion."

"Yea, yea, fascinating, why don't you get into the part about Aizen dying?"

The smile that spread across her face was more frightening than any glare could have appeared.

**I would be surprised if the people following this story even remember what it's about, and I'm sorry that I haven't updated before now. I kind of lost the love for Bleach for a short while(well, maybe not the love so much as the inspiration to continue this story.) I hope that you enjoyed the chapter and I'll do my best to get another chapter out before too long!**


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